


the street's a liar

by ConvenientAlias



Category: Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers - Alyssa Wong
Genre: Dark femslash week, During Canon, F/F, Manipulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 15:35:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16307903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConvenientAlias/pseuds/ConvenientAlias
Summary: Seo-yun scrutinized Jen carefully throughout the dinner. Physically, she was all right. Aiko had good taste. Mentally, she was a little bit impulsive it seemed, judging by some of her memories, but overall her hunting tactics were the kind that would work until she ran into a bigger predator. Emotionally, she was a jackpot. There was the lust and hunger and aggression of every one of their kind, the rotting emptiness, but beside it there was something else, something that reminded Seo-yun of Aiko. There was sadness and loneliness, and a small, curled up desire to be normal and to be loved.Seo-yun smiled as she watched Jen pick over her food. She could work with that. Desires like those, pure and sweet, only became sweeter when they went bad.





	the street's a liar

Usually Seo-yun went after those who were already corrupted. She chased down the serial rapists, the murderers, the abusers, the petty bitches, the business magnates, all kinds of habitually callous and cruel scum. She liked the well settled flavor of them—some drily bitter, some sweetly, headily rotten. And they were easy to find, too. Humankind were in general a rotten bunch, waiting for someone to find their disgusting odor sweet. Frankly, she could find a meal just by walking the street at night in a low-cut shirt.

But she was a connoisseur. And there was nothing so exciting or unique about the peach you plucked from the tree. So sometimes she liked to make dishes of her own. Take someone who despite their potential for corruption (everyone had that potential deep down, even if they were not always aware) still believed in their own goodness. And push them and pull them and twist them, knead them like dough until they became what she wanted.

“Such a dish can rival even the life breath of a serial killer,” she told a guest at one of her parties one evening. “In fact, I find that the homegrown serial killer can even be a little bit dull.”

The guest snorted. He was one of those who believes he has fine taste but in fact would swallow anything down as long as it’s filling. “I find that hard to believe. Though I’ll admit you have a certain genius.”

“I could find a target even in this building and make them taste better than…”

“Unfair. This building is filled with the scum of the earth, love, and we all know it. The game is rigged.” He smiled patronizingly and raised his glass. Doubtless he considered that to be some sort of compliment. She smiled back. Someday she would devour him, she thought, and he would taste boring despite his depravity but she would still do it just to be rid of him.

She made a bet. Not with him—he wasn’t worth the energy—but with herself. A target within this building, that she would season as the perfect food. And not one of _their_ kind. Someone more mundane.

She went sniffing among the catering staff, there and here and here and there. There was a boy who was a little bit callous. With the right encouragement she could probably have him torturing animals. And there was…there was…

Ah, yes. A sweet scent, pining combined with a little embarrassment and sadness, and just the smallest hint of possessiveness. The smell of true love.

And it was surrounded by the most interesting thoughts.

She pulled the girl away from where she was pouring drinks, gathering her name from her as they walked. Aiko. The girl was stiff, doubtless afraid. Seo-yun smiled reassuringly.

“No need to be afraid of me, Aiko. I merely wanted to say you are doing an excellent job at your task.”

Aiko looked up with a respectful smile, but her thoughts were flooded with fear and…curiosity. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Seo-yun kissed her forehead. Ah, yes. This one. It would have to be this one.

* * *

 

She was terribly curious about Jen. Aiko’s feelings on her were so mixed. The love, yes, which was always a confusing tangle in and of itself, but then there was also the wariness and fear. Aiko knew what Jen was and it seemed Jen didn’t even know it. That at least made her oblivious, but what else did it make her? She was a hunter, at least. So Seo-yun knew they were at least partly alike.

It also gave her an in. Because Jen would go on a date with anyone with ugly enough thoughts, and Seo-yun, despite years of searching, had never found anyone with thoughts uglier than her own.

She scrutinized Jen carefully throughout the dinner. Physically, she was all right. Aiko had good taste. Mentally, she was a little bit impulsive it seemed, judging by some of her memories, but overall her hunting tactics were the kind that would work until she ran into a bigger predator. Emotionally, she was a jackpot. There was the lust and hunger and aggression of every one of their kind, the rotting emptiness, but beside it there was something else, something that reminded Seo-yun of Aiko. There was sadness and loneliness, and a small, curled up desire to be normal and to be loved.

Seo-yun smiled as she watched Jen pick over her food. She could work with that. Desires like those, pure and sweet, only became sweeter when they went bad.

She made her move.

First, mention Aiko. That would get Jen’s attention. Jen, despite all her darkness, had Aiko very close to her center.

Second, reveal that they were the same. Jen was lonely because she knew no one else of her kind. There was the lure.

Third, and perhaps most poisonous: “I like you, Jenny.”

Jen stared. She didn’t speak.

Seo-yun offered her food and told her that they could be together, that Seo-yun would accept her and they could explore whole worlds of pleasure together. Because that would be good bait too. No one really objected to a little pleasure. (Except ascetics. Blergh. Ascetics. The trendy ones tasted like plastic and the sincere ones went to your head.) But she knew she already had Jen caught. Because she’d said, “I like you,” and she’d meant it. It was true, after all—Seo-yun thought that one of their kind who was still largely uncorrupted was vastly fascinating, and Jen herself was not without charm. She said it and meant it, and Jen, with her turbulent relationship with Aiko and her million fake dates, would cling to that like a lifeline.

Jen hesitantly took the first bite of food. But after a couple delicate bites, she really dug in and ate with the relish of the inexperienced. How lovely. Dating her, Seo-yun thought, would actually be fun.

When they left the restaurant she pressed a kiss to Jen’s forehead and tasted just the smallest lick of her fear and desire.

* * *

 

“I met your girlfriend the other day,” she told Aiko when next they ran into each other. Well. _Ran into_. She’d requested the catering company with this meeting in mind.

“Pardon, ma’am?”

“Well, I guess she’s not your girlfriend, but you still think about her a lot. I mean Jen.”

Aiko didn’t flinch, but her thoughts did.

“It’s so rare to meet one of us who hasn’t been introduced to the community. But she’ll make a fine addition, don’t you think? Don’t worry. I’ll teach her.” She put a hand on Aiko’s arm. “And do you want me to tell her to visit you sometime? I know you’ve been missing her.”

“No, thank you,” Aiko said. Fear fear fear. Fear that Seo-yun would hurt Jen. Fear that Seo-yun would change Jen. Fear that… Seo-yun almost laughed. Fear that Seo-yun would be good for Jen and Jen wouldn’t need Aiko anymore.

That right there was not such a pure emotion. Seo-yun would see thoughts like that brought slowly to boil.

* * *

 

Jen was a delight in and out of the kitchen.

Seo-yun showed her all around the hidden corners of the city. All the little restaurants Jen had never visited before, with all their special recipes. She showed her the corners where she usually found her molesters and rapists, common fare but the kind one sometimes needed to get by. She took her to the most expensive mundane restaurant in the city and sat her down at a table in the exact middle. She’d needed a reservation—all the other tables were full up.

“This,” she told Jen, “is a place for Wall Street and old money. There’s another restaurant in town that’s a bit trendier for celebrities but this one has a unique flavor to it. Do you smell it? Old family arrogance.”

Jen’s eyes were wide. She was sniffing a little too audibly, and she gaped over Seo-yun’s shoulder at a couple sitting in the corner.

“Of course they still have their petty flaws,” Seo-yun said. That couple, for example, happened to be quite an old man and a girl who was probably underage. “But the undertaste—do you see? They believe nothing bad will ever happen to them, and they have the right to do anything they want.”

“I see,” Jen murmured.

“We can’t eat them tonight. Unfortunately this is a bit too public. But pick a man. We can chase him down together. I don’t mind if it takes all week.”

Predictably, Jen picked the man in the corner. But that was just as well. He was a man of many vices, which made him easier to target. Seo-yun found one of his dating profiles, used a fake image (she was gorgeous but not this one’s type—not young or blonde enough—and neither was Jen) and arranged a meeting in a remote location. He probably preferred the location for one reason, and Jen and Seo-yun for another.

“I want to see you take him down,” Seo-yun said.

“Oh? I thought you said _we_ would.”

“I’ve already done the heavy lifting. I want to see your bite, Jenny.”

“You’ve seen me eat before.”

“Yes, but this one is special. Do it for me, hm?”

“Ogler,” Jen muttered, but she rolled her eyes and laughed. She took a childish glee out of her relationship with Seo-yun that Seo-yun never quite understood. She’d never loved anyone quite so gleefully.

Frankly, it was odd that Jen loved Seo-yun at all, but undeniable nonetheless. She was a swarm of dark thoughts, but while Seo-yun usually brought out the worst in people, around Seo-yun those dark thoughts sometimes grew calmer. And she’d been thinking of Aiko far less lately. Poor, poor Aiko.

They went to the park where they were meeting with the man. Seo-yun wondered if Jen would try to attack him physically. That could be fun sometimes, a little violence to let out some of those thoughts, release the pressure against your mind. But Jen was very straightforward. She walked up to the man, waited for him to meet her eyes, and then kissed him, right on the lips. At first he seemed surprised but pleased, then worried (people could always tell something was happening to them, just not what), then faint. He fell to the ground when Jen was done with him. Jen shrugged. The form of the man had rushed upon her and with a slight look of contempt on her face, she kicked him in the ribs.

“You always insist on kissing,” Seo-yun said.

“Well, usually I’m on a date.”

There was something else about Jen’s methods—she never killed her victims, only drained them enough to knock them out. Still oddly soft that way. A couple times when their dates were over, Seo-yun had gone back to find the victim and finished the job, just to catch the aftertaste of Jen’s hunger on her tongue, but usually she let Jen get away with her leniency. Her choice, after all. And the way she tried to be the benevolent predator was hilarious.

Seo-yun dragged Jen back to their car. She waited until Jen was back in her usual, beautiful body before saying, “Kiss me.”

Jen said, “We’ll get in an accident.”

Seo-yun pulled over. “Come on, Jenny. Aren’t I bad enough for you?”

“More than bad enough,” Jen said softly, and she leaned over. Seo-yun waited for her to bite down, to draw out Seo-yun’s essence, to make this a fight, but she didn’t.

They still had a ways to go.

* * *

 

“Still thinking about Jen, Aiko?” Seo-yun asked. The party tonight was really going, but Aiko’s thoughts were still distinct in the crowd, perfect and pure. Maybe it was Jen’s influence that made Seo-yun feel like that. She’d chosen Aiko as her target, the one she wanted to ruin, but lately she found her more compelling than before. Really it had to be Jen—Seo-yun had no reason to be interested in anything but Aiko’s flavor.

Aiko said, “She’s a friend, ma’am.”

“Oooh. Of course.” A stray thought stood out. “Oh, you saw her today? What a lucky chance for you! After all, she’d never come visit you on purpose.”

Aiko said nothing.

“It’s a bit sad, though,” Seo-yun said softly. “Why don’t you give up on her, Aiko? She’ll never love you. And there are other people out there in the world.”

She put a hand on Aiko’s waist and looked into her eyes, just in case the words “other people” left any doubt of what she meant. She wondered if she smelled enough like Jen, if she had picked up enough of Jen’s essence, that Aiko would find her attractive.

Aiko stepped away. “She mentioned you to me. She said you’re her girlfriend.”

“Did she?” Something in Seo-yun was stupidly pleased, even though it was just the truth. “Well, well…”

“So I don’t think you should be sleeping around.”

Aiko was being unusually bold.

“If you hurt her,” she continued, “I’ll see you dead. You know I’ll do it.”

Yes, there was that darkness. Growing stronger and stronger, larger and larger.

Seo-yun tilted her head. “I think you’ve misunderstood me, Aiko. But my relationship is none of your business, is it? You’d better go back to your work.”

Aiko nodded and walked away, but her thoughts trailed after her slowly, sluggishly, unwilling to leave Seo-yun behind. Seo-yun caught the tip of one between two fingers and popped it into her mouth.

Almost ripe.

* * *

 

She wasn’t quite sure yet, how she would arrange it. Would she make Jen betray Aiko? Would she hurt Jen in front of Aiko, or Aiko in front of Jen? Would she make Aiko hurt her, then run to Jen for sympathy? There were a thousand ways to play out this farce, and any one of them would work. One way or another, she would eat them both together, little by little, drawing it out slowly until nothing was left of them except what she had consumed, until they were nothing but memories and no one remembered them but her.

“What are you thinking about?”

Seo-yun smiled at Jen and touched her cheek. “How much I love you,” she said, because she knew it would make Jen blush. And because it was true. Consumnation, after all, was the truest love. It was the only kind of love Seo-yun knew.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic for the first day of Dark Femslash Week, which was themed around betrayal, abuse and seduction to the dark side--obviously this fic is more about the last of the three. Comments and kudos are welcome :)


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